The University of Saskatchewan (USask) Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) completed building its Vaccine Development Centre (VDC)..The purpose of the VDC is to contribute to Canada’s emergency response in future pandemics..VIDO created the VDC as the beginning of a process to become Canada’s Centre for Pandemic Research..The project includes adding to the scientific team and attaining Level 4 containment capacity..A Level 4 lab is the same level as the Wuhan facility where the COVID-19 virus allegedly escaped..The world’s most dangerous pathogens are handled in Level 4 containment facilities..VIDO CEO Volker Gerdts said that the proposal is to use about 10% of the facility for Level 4 containment. .“What we’re proposing now is to upgrade about 10% of our containment space to containment Level 4,” said Gerdts..”This alone would double Canada’s capacity level for research and would help the country to be better prepared for any future emerging disease.".The facility will also add a new animal housing facility..Both human and animal vaccines can be manufactured in the VDC..“It’s really exciting and rewarding to see that finally this has now become reality and that soon we will be able to manufacture vaccines here at VIDO,” said Gerdts..Gerdts said the facility can “create any kind of vaccine, whether that is protein subunit, RNA, viral vectors, live, or inactive vaccines.”.“VIDO is not going to be a commercial vaccine manufacturer,” said Gerdts..“We are a research organization and we really are focusing on manufacturing vaccines that were discovered in lab either here at VIDO or at the university or at other universities or small biotech companies who don’t have the resources to build their own manufacturing facility.”.The facility is only approved for animal vaccines, however, if there is a global emergency, it can produce human vaccines..The lab has been working on a COVID-19 vaccine that is in phase two clinical trials and the facility can produce up to 40 million doses each year..A long commissioning process to make sure the facility utilities and equipment operate correctly is the next step for the VDC..Gerdts hopes the VDC will be fully functional by the fourth quarter of 2023..The VDC must meet good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards, which check that medicines are produced safely..It becomes “one of only a few GMP bio-manufacturing facilities in the world that produce vaccines under containment level 3,” according to the USask press release..At today’s event was the PrairiesCan Minister Daniel Vandal, Premier Scott Moe, and Saskatoon’s Mayor Charlie Clark..Moe praised the completion of the VDC and what opportunities it brings to the province of Saskatchewan..“The Government of Saskatchewan is proud to have invested in this impressive facility and to see it now completed,” said Moe..“The Vaccine Development Centre is a great example of the foresight and vision of VIDO and the University of Saskatchewan, and the strength and innovation in Saskatchewan’s research sector. We are confident it will attract new talent and opportunities to our province.”
